Apertio Joins BridgePort Networks' MobileIGNITE Alliance for MobileVoIP.

CHICAGO -- Companies Complete Interoperability Testing for Open Standards Based MobileVoIP Convergence Solutions for Mobile Service Providers

BridgePort Networks, the leader in MobileVoIP convergence, today announced that Apertio, the leading provider of subscriber-centric networks, has joined the company's MobileIGNITE Alliance, having completed interoperability testing with the Apertio HLR for MobileVoIP solutions. In addition the companies are working on interoperability between BridgePort Networks' NomadicONE Network Convergence Gateway and Apertio's IMS ready Home Subscriber Server (HSS).

Established in early 2005, MobileIGNITE was created to bring together leading MobileVoIP companies to speed time to market of MobileVoIP convergence solutions for service providers, by working on open standards-based interoperability.

With legacy hardware in today's core networks reaching the end of its life, and IMS-based networks promising real business benefit, Apertio has developed an open, IT standards based software infrastructure that eliminates the complexity from the core and increases scalability, reliability and performance.

"The industry is undergoing a necessary technology shift from a network-centric to a subscriber-centric architecture," said Paul Magelli, CEO of Apertio. "To achieve this, service providers face the daunting task of simplifying their complex legacy networks and consolidating all subscriber data into a single, real-time database at the heart of their network. Apertio enables this move and, together with BridgePort Networks and the MobileIGNITE Alliance, our open systems approach enables services providers to dramatically reduce the total cost of ownership of core networks and provides a clear route to IMS functionality in networks today."

Apertio's real-time, subscriber-centric network directory server and portfolio of software based mobility applications, including the HSS and HLR, are being implemented by many of the world's largest and fastest growing service providers. It's 'soft' Home Location Register (HLR) has recently been deployed by Telecom Asia in Thailand; slashing the carrier's core network operating costs by 40 percent and deploying capacity for an additional one million subscribers in only six weeks.

"While the goal of IMS is certain, the path towards IMS continues to be plagued by uncertainty," said Mike Mulica, CEO of BridgePort Networks. "As an industry we've learned that complexity and proprietary systems should be avoided and open-systems embraced. Apertio's soft HLR with HSS migration perfectly fits MobileIGNITE's objective of a graceful transition to IMS, driven by fixed-mobile convergence applications following an open standards path."

BridgePort Networks is the first vendor to offer a platform for MobileVoIP convergence that bridges cellular roaming technology compatible with today's mobile networks and VoIP based on the open SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) standards. The company has developed MobileVoIP solutions for service providers that enable seamless roaming, network presence detection and the ability to cost effectively deliver mobile services over VoIP networks and VoIP calls to mobile phones.

About BridgePort Networks

BridgePort Networks is the leader in MobileVoIP convergence -- combining the personalization and mobility of mobile phone services with the flexibility, innovation and outstanding cost economics of the rapidly growing VoIP sector. The core product, the NomadicONE Network Convergence Gateway (NCG), uses roaming technology to extend single identity phone number services over multiple access networks, including: mobile, cable, DSL and Wi-Fi. The NomadicONE NCG is a key component of an open standards partner ecosystem, MobileIGNITE that comprises end-to-end solutions that improve the quality, coverage and cost of mobile service delivery and the mobility of VoIP services. BridgePort Networks is a global company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. To learn more about BridgePort Networks visit: www.bridgeport-networks.com.

BridgePort Networks logo, NomadicONE, MobileFIND, and MobileIGNITE are trademarks of BridgePort Networks Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

About Apertio

Apertio is the leading provider of subscriber-centric networks for fixed, mobile and converged operators. The company delivers a unique open subscriber-centric architecture, based on a real time common subscriber directory and a suite of mobility applications for the core mobile, fixed and converged network. Apertio is the clear leader with proven technology and boasts a rapidly expanding portfolio of the largest and fastest growing network operators in the world, including Orange and Vodafone.